Worth It
by sailor's delight
Summary: KB/OW - Katie decides that when it comes down to it, all the broken bones, concussions, worrying, and sleepless nights she endures are worth it.


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Worth It

Katie Bell was starting to see how all those concussions and broken bones were paying off. Okay, so they were Oliver's broken bones and concussions, but still, now that Oliver was off the reserve team and was the starting Keeper for his professional Quidditch team, things were starting to look up. The cash starting flowing in after his first game as the starting Keeper for Puddlemere and Oliver found himself vaulted into stardom, dragging a reluctant Katie with him. They moved out of their dingy one-room apartment and into a large loft in the city. They were enjoying nice vacations when Oliver didn't have practice. It was on one of those vacations to Hawaii that Oliver had proposed to Katie and the two were now engaged. Romantic proposals aside, Katie's favorite part was the clothes. Oh, the clothes. With their new salary, Katie was able to buy things she only dreamed about wearing. Sure, Katie still had a decent paying job as a photographer, but nothing could beat the perks of professional Quidditch. Like the private box seats Katie was sitting in right now.

Puddlemere was up thirty points against the Ravens and Oliver had made some particularly difficult saves in the past few minutes. Katie was intently watching the game when a voice interrupted her. "More champagne, Miss Bell?" A waiter stood next to her with a tray of filled champagne glasses.

"Yes please!" came a voice to the right of Katie. Katie rolled her eyes as Angelina reached across Katie and snatched her fourth glass. Katie just politely declined the waiter's offer, showing him the glass she was working on.

"You know," Angelina said a little louder than she intended, "That beater, what's his face…Andy…Anthony….something with an 'A'…."

"David?" Katie answered for her.

"YES. David. He's not half bad looking…don't you think?" Angelina said peering out at said Beater.

"Sure, Angie…" Katie said following her gaze to the Beater. David just happened to be the largest, most burly, sweaty man on the team.

Alicia, who had remained quiet most of the evening, glanced at Angelina, her large eyes widened with worry. "I think she's had enough to drink," she said quietly to Katie, who nodded in agreement.

The three girls went back to watching the game, Angelina cheering a bit too loudly for Oliver and yelling a bit too inappropriately at the other team. Puddlemere was now ahead of the Ravens by seventy points and the team was having one of their best matches. One of the Raven's Chasers had gotten possession of the ball and was flying directly at Oliver. Katie tried to block out Alicia's failing attempts to stop Angelina from shouting some vulgar word at the Chaser and sat forward a little more on her seat. She recognized this classic Chaser move from when she played at Hogwarts. It was seldom used in professional Quidditch, which is why Katie was concerned it would throw Oliver off. She prayed he would remember her pulling this move (which had some ridiculous name that Katie could never remember) on him at practice years ago, which always drove him crazy because it was so hard to predict. As soon as the Chaser veered off to the side right before colliding with Oliver, Katie knew it was not going to end well. She saw what was going to occur a fraction of a second before Oliver did. It all happened so quickly, Katie wasn't even sure it was possible. Somehow Oliver collided with the large Chaser so hard Katie thought she could hear the crack. He fell off his broom and plummeted for the ground. The stadium took a collective gasp and soon everyone was standing out of their seats, peering to get a look at the fallen Keeper. Katie looked over the balcony of the box and she heard Angelina, sobered by what happened, murmur "Shit" quietly under her breath.

Silence fell over the stadium as Oliver lay on the ground unmoving, his left arm at an odd angle. The referees called a time out and the teams gathered with their coaches as a couple Athletic Healers sped out to the field. Katie was well aware that nearly every eye in the stadium was flickering between the unconscious Keeper and her. A stretcher was conjured and Oliver was levitated onto it as the Puddlemere coach thrust the new reserve Keeper onto the pitch.

Katie quickly excused herself from the box seats and ran down the stairs to pitch level with Angelina and Alicia closely following in her wake. She knew this stadium like the back of her hand; she had spent countless hours here over the past two years. She made her way directly to where she knew the medical care area was. About half of the endless of hours she spent in the stadium were spent in here with Oliver, bandaging up a wrist or icing a nasty gash or tending to some other injury. The walk (more of a run actually) down to the room was somewhat calming. It was familiar. Katie had been here before, and things always turned out fine, and that's what she told herself as she turned down the hallway that led to the room underneath the stadium. There were already about a dozen photographers and concerned fans swarming around the door. When they saw Katie they all turned towards her and started snapping away. Katie just kept her head down and ignored the questions about Oliver that she was bombarded with and shielded her eyes from the blinding flash of the cameras. Whenever she came to the stadium it was like this. Oliver's undeniable young, fresh talent and his even more undeniable good looks, he attracted attention wherever he went, meaning that Katie also started attracting attention.

She made her way through the crowd and finally found the door and hurried inside. The muffled voices from outside could be heard and Katie took a deep, calming breath as she closed her eyes for a moment and prepared for what was next. She heard the door open as Angelina and Alicia entered the room behind her. Katie opened her eyes and moved further into the room and down the hall to where she knew Oliver would be.

An Athletic Healer rushed out of a room to Katie's left, almost crashing into her. "Oh! Miss Bell! I was just about to send for you. I should have known you'd already be here though," said the Healer, who Katie vaguely recognized from her many visits down here.

Katie offered her a small smile and tried to move into the room. "I should warn you though, he's still out cold," the Healer said as Katie finally moved past her and made it inside the room. Angelina and Alicia stayed behind, held back by the Healer.

In the room there were a few empty beds lining the bare, white walls. Surrounding the last bed there was a group of people hovering over the occupant. Katie sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that night. She could now see the group of people was a mix of Healers and coaches. A large man wearing a Puddlemere jacket and had his back to Katie heard her approaching and quickly turned around, blocking her view of Oliver.

"Miss Bell! You made it down here quick!" said the man who Katie now recognized as the assistant coach.

"Well you know me, Coach Martin," Katie said as politely as she could. "How is he?"

"Well he has a pretty bad concussion, he might be out of it, a bit sluggish for a while…you know. Also that was a damn hard fall, it fractured his left arm so he'll be sore for a few days," the assistant coach answered her.

Katie nodded and as she stepped forward the coach moved out of the way so she could stand by the bed. Oliver was lying on the sheets, still in his full Quidditch uniform. A couple of Healers were fussing with his head, and one was furiously taking notes. Katie just looked down at Oliver, who was still unconscious and blissfully unaware of what was going on, and shook her head slowly. How many times had she been here before? Always the same room, the same bed, always something new to lose sleep over. The Healers back away from Oliver when they saw Katie approach the bed. She reached her hand up and placed it on his forehead, which still damp with sweat, and brushed his brown hair away from his face to reveal a nasty cut that was beginning to bruise on his head. Katie winced when she saw that and mentally reminded herself to take inventory of their first aid kit at home.

Suddenly Oliver started moving around a bit and groaned in pain and squeezed his eyes tightly together. Katie kept her hand on his head and ran her slightly shaking fingers through his thick hair. Oliver stopped struggling and his eyes fluttered open, but were unfocused. "Diwe-win?" he slurred 

weakly. Katie tried to hold back her smirk. What a typical Oliver thing to say at a time like this. She just said to him, "Just go back to sleep babe," to which Oliver complied instantly.

Katie knew what was going to happen next. The Healers would converse with each other for a few more minutes in hushed tones that they think Katie cannot hear. They'll then tell Katie that even though his injuries weren't anything to be concerned about, they want him to spend the night in St. Mungos as a "precautionary measure" and for "necessary observation". She would then sign a few release forms and fight the crowd of fans and photographers on her way out to St. Mungos.

As if on cue, the Healer in charge turned to Katie and said in the kindest voice the woman could muster, "Well Miss Bell, Oliver's injuries aren't anything to be concerned about, but we would like him to spend the night at St. Mungos as a precautionary measure and for necessary observation."

Katie nodded and dug through her purse to try and find a pen. She pulled one out as a young man showed her some papers to sign. He had a bright yellow tag pinned to his shirt that said he was a trainee. He started to show her where to sign and why but Katie just signed away at all the parts she knew where to and gave the papers back to him. The trainee, a little taken aback, looked at her with a strange expression on his face and said, "Wow, I'm guessing you've done this before?"

Katie looked at him and said, "You have no idea."

Much later that night, when most people should be asleep, Katie sat quietly beside Oliver's bed in a room at St. Mungos. She passed the time by reading through a book, not really taking in any of the words and occasionally stopping to run her hand across Oliver's forehead and through his hair. The only interruptions were from the Healer that checked in every hour and take a few notes. Katie was currently holding Oliver's hand in her own, rubbing her thumb over the back of it. She nearly jumped when Oliver gave her hand a little squeeze and he shifted a bit on the bed.

"Oliver?" Katie asked.

He struggled to open his eyes and said hoarsely, "Hey Kates."

Katie breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at him. "Hey there sleepyhead. How you feeling?"

He groaned, "Like I got stampeded by hippogriffs."

Katie laughed as quietly as she could. At least his humor was intact.

"Oh, I'm glad my pain gives you a laugh," Oliver said, rolling his eyes.

"Sorry sweetie," Katie said apologetically, with a hint of laughter still in her voice and on her face. She sighed and cupped Oliver's face with her hand, rubbing her thumb across his cheek. "You gotta stop doing this to yourself babe," she said a little more seriously. Every time Oliver got hurt playing Quidditch they had this conversation, and every time it ended the same way.

"I know. But I'm worth it," Oliver said smugly as he smiled at Katie, who just laughed and shoved him playfully on the arm. His cockiness aside, Katie knew that the Oliver she loved wouldn't be the same if he wasn't obsessive when it came to Quidditch. It was just a part of the Oliver Wood package that couldn't be ignored and Katie just had to accept him and his obsessions. And if all-nighters at hospitals, and dealing with endless broken bones were part of the package, then Oliver was right. He was worth it.

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**Disclaimer**

Anything that is recognizable from any of the _Harry Potter _books is property of J.K. Rowling and I make no profit from it.

**A/N: **hope you all liked, please review!! FYI, I'm revamping my Remus/Tonks story (well more of a collection of short stories really) "Life Is Short But Sweet For Certain". I finally realized that the order of the chapters made absolutley no sense, so I'm rearranging them. Anyway, reviews are greatly appreciated!!

-sailor's delight


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